What do you really like & hate about living in Egypt?

I would like to tell you that I did a research based on these posts
It was really helpful and sufficient 
Thank you all guys ^_^

Hey guys!
To expats and anyone who's lived in Egypt for a while, what's the one thing you like/miss the most?

Hi  Burnside Lol you must like the attention as you keep referring to yourself as tall, blonde oh and by the way gorgeous. Maybe if you were a little more modest you would get less stares.....its just a thought.

Egypt is a very nice place and the more you stay in Egypt the more you will love it ..

Not necessarily.
at first the idiosyncracies seem fun, np,add colour to your day.
after a certain length of time they are a pain in the ass, the attitude here makes you want to rant and rave, and the thought of trying to get anything done quickly just makes you want to give up.

Egypt, everything & the opposite

I agree And the one thing I have noticed is the inconcisity of the rules and regulations  eg  I am trying to get the electricity connected  I have been told I must have a seperate room for the mains,  This goes to court for a hearing then I must make an appeal if its against me  (which it was) write letters so on and so forth,  Not everyone has this problem it just depends on the person who serves you on that particular day.  If you are a local or expat  if you are man or woman This is one thing I really hate.  Oh and yes who do you complain to.  There is no one.....

Burnside"" have a good sense of humor.... Able to express in a nice way, listen to her expats and try to mix with people, just one true fact that there is really a big big gap between segments of society here in egypt and its reflected on their personality but you can always tell and choose.

Ive been living in Cairo for almost 4 years now and have seen it just get worse and worse. Started out great. People were kinder and less crime and better prices on everything. It's still quite reasonable by western standards,  but not like before. I live in Maadi and it truly is the nicest area in Cairo. Egyptian men and women can definitely make great friends, but of course there is a down side to this. No matter what you think, DO NOT EVER TRUST THEM WITH MONEY!!! Another part of their culture is to try to get whatever they can from anyone. No matter what it takes. I made the mistake of marrying an Egyptian woman. I thought I was smart enough to know the difference and to know who to trust. Ends up after 1 1/2 years, the day after my contract ended, this woman left me and moved to dubai. She and her family had this planned from the moment they met me. I bought a house and they changed the name to hers behind my back. She cleared out our bank accounts and split. All to the tune of more than a quarter million dollars... this is all too common with Egyptians and foreigners. Please heed my advice and befriend Egyptian people, have a good time, experience the culture, but under NO circumstances, marry one of them. Its a lose lose situation. They already have nothing to lose. They  bring  nothing to the table and expect the foreigner to bring all they have. As soon as the family knew that the money well had dried up, (because they were supported by myself and another foreign man married to another daughter) they took her and shipped her off to go find another rich man. This is their job, their culture and they take pride in how much they can svrew someone out of. They do it to each other EVERY DAY!!! If you just keep this in mind, you will find Egypt to be an amazing place.  Best of luck!!!

Great post....i after.Even in this site a lot of locals Who are members....for what? They Told me they want friends bla...bla...bla and asking where and What is my job....if u have GMRC   at first u will be not ask these ...im sorry bout good people here  i know there are still good ones left...more power and god bless egypt

Sorry  , shocked by your story!
Here some Egyptian men run after foreigners girls and most of them already married,they just want to find passionate outside for free ~find friendship with Egyptian men sorry it seems impossible ! one time i travelled to red sea,on the bus ,one Egyptian man who is younger than me,he tried to talk with me and finally asked me can i pay some money to him when we get to red sea and sexed with him !!!at that time i am really shocked and doubt my listening wrong !-Lol~~~
in this country you cant smile to men if you dont know them,or else you will get in trouble!
Here life is easy and fruits r fresh,some old Egyptian plp really friendly and nice !sometimes taking a walk around The nile river under sunshine,nice moment!
For my own ,spend one  or more half year study Arabic and relax in cairo its not bad.and for some chinese business plp Egypt also is a big market ,run business here also not bad choice.
Anyway plp good &bad everywhere, the more time stay here and know culture here ,will find more easier deal with plp.
Actually most of plp here still kind and helpful ,just be careful once especially girls fall in love with Egyptian men~should  thinking more~

can you provide with the number that a foreigner can call them?

Egypt has nothing to offer to an expat for long term, i can say lots of things all expats hate and so less that they may like, it's a nice place to visit, but never engage youself for a project for long term that may keep you over Egypt.About Egyptian men..........sure I don't like their fake smile that shows you how much eagerness spread out on helping you on whatever you want. they are just good on wasting lots of words with no sense.All of them have at the end a target to achieve as I got to understand in Egypt a relationship does not exist but a marriage is all what everyone sees legal, where in a marriage must be negociated from the very beginning absolutely everything and here I mean: MONEY, i hate this concept.I got to learnt that nationals over here doesn't know the meaning of LOVE and they don't believe in such as this feeling, just some rare cases where men really love.Most of egyptians target foreigners to marry, and i really don't know why, but that in term of living not alone or somethng like that, and at this point they start mimic their love.I can't justify the people frustration all the time.I can say a lot about what I hate but I stop here as is boring describing this nation.

Hi Everyone
Last August I posted about waiting for the Electricity to be connected
Just wanted to let you know I am still waiting. This is what I hate most you try to help the employment situation and give some a better life but who cares. Everyone one is out for themselves

Hi Gulliver. If you find where you can purchase the magazines please let us know

As a foreigner, I can definitely say that I have some likes and dislikes to share about living in Egypt. Although my father is egyptian, this is my first year living in egypt. I've lived in north america my whole life. So here goes...

THE DISLIKES.... its a long list so bare with me.

Firstly, I would like to add that I have visited Egypt many many times before I decided to make my final move. It is true what they say, you cannot look at life in Egypt when you visit as a tourist because our perspectives are quite flawed. It was not until I decided to come and stay permanently, that my views started to change and people that I knew started to show their true colors.

The PEOPLE
Lesson to all expats, people will always try to be nice to you and smile in front of your face especially if you are a foreigner, but they are also very quick to judge and don't be surprised if they pick up their phones and start talking about you behind your back. Once they don't like something about you, there is no going back. I'm not referring to strangers, I'm actually referring to people that know you...whether they know you from family friends, to co workers....known you for years, your whole life, or even a month.... could even be a family member!
For example, I got stuck with family friends that I wouldn't necessarily say they are my favourite cup of tea! We have nothing in common absolutely zero! Let alone a very big age gap! I'm talking my parents age type of gap. I got stuck with them because they've known my father since pre marriage. Go figure. At first, they were ok...you know getting to know each other ...etc etc.... Anyhow, I am a westerner with western views but also have my middle eastern morals and religious beliefs. Putting that aside, that is not the problem. I think differently when it comes to privacy, respect, what is right from wrong, and i am definitely one of those people who likes space and A LOT of it. I require A LOT of alone time. I appreciate my alone time. I don't chat on the phone for hours and i definitely don't call one person at a time to gossip and speak of other people. I lived around this type of social circle when I arrived to Cairo last year because i was very new and my parents would no way in hell allow me to be ALONE! Anyways, I have witnessed what i've been running away from and avoiding all my life.... shallow judgmental women who think that they are always right no matter what and you better do what they say and you CANNOT say no to them... they consider it rude and once you say no to anything, it could be even pass the keys or something... they will forever hold that against you. They will interfere in your life, they will be very nosey, they will always be opinionated and offer advice even if you don't ask for it, and they ALWAYS.... and I mean ALWAYS... pretend and make themselves seem like they are out to help you and have your best interest at heart, but they will always be the ones to quickly pick up their phones and call their sisters, mothers, aunts, nieces, neighbours, and their neighbours neighbour to talk about you and your business!

Now, I am not saying that this is every typical woman here in Egypt. But for all you expats out there, just be very very prepared to have people stick their nose in your business. I was not prepared for this. I am a very quiet person and i love my alone time and love my own space and even being married, both my husband and I share those same qualities.

I am not interested in gossiping, knowing other people's affairs who i've never met before, nor am i interested in people's problems. I have my own set of problems, we all do, and i think that is quite enough for me thank you. People here always talk about other people. Most people that is. You will find out about every single thing about a person you have never met through other people. So fair warning, if you don't have to get close to people, don't get close to them. I unfortunately, was in a sticky situation and had to please my parents at the same time by being around family friends and what not as soon as i arrived. I have tried many times to change the subject but again, it is considered rude if you even try to be opinionated with them and you will look like a careless person if you show no interest. so i just usually sit quiet and take it all in and hope to god the door bell rings or something so i can run off!

So, I decided after 8 months, i couldn't take it any longer and i grabbed my husband and moved 2 hours away. Everyone of course had to try to interfere in my move and would try to talk my husband out of it but i couldn't take it any longer being neighbours or even share the same zip code with people like that. If i did something that didn't please them, i would be the talking stock, if i did something that pleased them, i still will be the talking stock. I live two hours away and i am still the talking stock. So long you are somehow different, you will always have a fan base here. I am not a phone person, i don't call the same person everyday few times a day and because i don't do that, i am labelled as a selfish person because i don't ask about them. Sending hello messages to them or voice notes is usually my getaway to "keeping in contact" LOL because at the end of the day, they are my family friends and i have to because its the "younger thing to do". But, even that is not enough for them and a phone call once every few weeks is not enough for them either. I'm sorry, but friendships are a two way street. I don't care what the age gap is... if you call me great i will answer no problem... but i cannot be expected to do all the calling all the damn time here. Since i moved, I did not get any calls from anyone because i don't call LOL..... That to me, proves to me that there is definitely a mind gap between certain people in egypt and westerners. That is very high school and quite laughable! And so because i moved far, barely call and ask....made me a topic of choice to speak about on the daily ... even if i didn't do anything wrong. And when you do call and ask, you will be getting half ass conversations out of them hehehe and such a fake and uncomfortable phone encounter... this is really why i don't like to keep in touch! People will always find something to be mad about when it comes to you. People don't want to be happy and i really don't know why! Needless to say, it's too bad my foreign best friend is a daughter, niece, and grandchild of these people i speak of. So see how STUCK i am lol.

Next topic,

FOOD... its gross here. You have to go to a restaurant that is like 400 pounds per entree to even attempt to get a decent meal around here. Also, careful where you eat... poor poor sanitary methods. I had a bad stomach ache every time i ate for a good 6 months before my stomach got used to this! Wash everything you buy with water and vinegar and lemon! That includes your fruits and veggies too!

Groceries.... you will not find everything you are looking for especially if you are a health freak! Groceries depend on seasons and they don't have a very established connection with foreign traders to get all that foreign stuff you're used to. They've either never heard of it.... or if you happen to find blueberries, its like 60 pounds for like less than a handful of blueberries. The packaging also sucks so don't expect everything to be fresh and expect dirty groceries too... like washing mud off your potatoes and tomatoes and cucumbers and all of that.

Services.... there is ZERO service in cairo. If you book appointments for a home service for example, expect them to show 10 hours late or expect them to turn their phone off on you. And when you do finally get your service, expect less than a half ass job. And they want you to pay for everything first before they even start the job! There is no such thing as the customer is always right and there is no such thing as refunds for a lousy job given!
For example, if you renovate your house... i please advise you not to go to labour workers or even engineers... because even engineers use labour workers to do their dirty work for them. The end result will be so poor that you have to re-renovate your newly built home 3 times until you find a PROPER company that will do the job for you. And that proper company will cost much more than you have ever imagined because they're smart enough to know that such a service is rare in this country. Expect to fly someone out or something from Dubai to do proper renovations/interior design for you i'm not kidding!

Traffic.... is a bitch... expect a 20 minute destination to take you an hour and half or 3 hours even... and when you try to find the source of traffic, its either a broken down vehicle on the side or middle of the road/highway... or just some idiot who decided to park in the middle and talk on his phone. 90 % OF THE TIME, its for no reason at all! I always leave hours before anywhere i have to get so i don't use the lousy excuse of traffic. Using your time accordingly is an attribute that everyone in Cairo/Egypt lacks. Don't expect them at all. And don't be surprised about the driving style... everyone pushes away everyone out of their lanes so you just have to go with the flow when someone tries to push you off your lane... just either slow down for them to pass... or merge onto the next lane if there are no cars. You're not allowed to cut anyone off... only they are allowed to do that... so god help me ... i never once get behind the wheel and not experience road rage.

Internet.... lacking.... poor service, down a lot, and i pay double the price that i pay back home for a crappy internet service. It is slow and no such thing as high speed... that is a lie... and even if you do purchase high speed internet/unlimited packages... even that is a lie... i used to pay 80 dollars for unlimited internet with the highest speed that you didn't even get the chance to blink before the next page or show online loaded. Here, expect to go make some dinner before your page loads. Which sucks because I do all my research and business related stuff online and it really is a bummer. A job that takes me one hour to do can take me more than half a day here.

i can go on and on and on but i will continue the dislikes on a later post... as for likes... sorry that its a short list...

BUT if it weren't for my husband... i probably wouldn't be listing any likes on this post... 

I like having my husband with me to calm me because moving from one civilized nation to a nation that is not even half as civilized can take a toll on you. The best thing I learned thus far... and it took a lot of hard work ... is PATIENCE.... i come from a very fast paced environment and moved to a very SLOW paced or non existent environmental time zone. If it weren't for him, i wouldn't be able to master patience.

Needless to say, men here in Cairo are much nicer than women so i thank the men here... but not the labour workers. Yeah they are very nice and a lot of people are very nice but its all fake because at the end of the day they are getting your money from your pockets so they have to be nice... but their sucks! So, at least they're nice. Well, most are. Some, you just want to take a pan and smack some sense into them.

Some views are extraordinary and there are many areas where you can go out and escape from daily life here and have a GREAT time. From nightlife to beaches and i really mean it!

The beaches here are BEAUTIFUL..... its like having Maldives a few hours away from you. And Egypt knows how to have a good time!

Some people are amazing... and the friendships you make a long way... expect them to last forever. I have witnessed friendships here that lasts a lifetime and they treat each other like family.... which most of the time lacks elsewhere in the world. I've always witnessed an eye for an eye type of friendship where i come from so if you happen to have a friend or friends... or make friends who really appreciate you... then keep them and work hard to be good to them! Its so rare and i have witnessed those types of friendships here. And a lot of people like to help and give a lending hand here and they don't expect much in return either believe it or not. I, for one, can never ever use someone for my benefit so i always return favours!

on a late note, i shall continue this thread another time because i think i've just written a blog instead! HAHA...

P.S... there are somethings in egypt i would never trade... and some things i will never find elsewhere... especially where i come from... so everywhere has its good and bad... just try to be smart to avoid the bad at all costs!

Likes

Weather, beaches, holidays holidays holidays.. Egyptians celebrate anything and everything.  I've never worked so few hours with so many days off.  Money goes further, the option to buy OTC meds because I'm an educated adult, very good and cheap pet care, fresh fresh food.

Dislikes

Poor education, street children, hatred / ignorance towards street animals, constant stares like I've two heads, dirty comments, assumption I'm cheap, seriously poor work ethics, rubbish in the street

Well i'm in a very small city in the country so my likes and dislikes might be a bit different.

Likes

-The love from people (I know some of it is Fake)
-The transportation (we only have random cars and the train which i haven't been on yet. It can be a bit dangerous sometime though you have to use street smarts)
- The weather
- The fresh food. 
- I like how there is kind of no rules at least in the country.  I don't know how a big city is like.

Dislikes

-people not waiting their turn and jumping in front of you
- impatient people (This is a weird one though.  They are impatient with actions yet when I look at their faces they look very patient.
- Being stared at all the time.
- The garbage on the street
- how they treat animals
- Assumptions that in Canada we are very rich.

Yes,

I definitely agree with education in egypt. It does not need reviewing. I feel very sorry for children and teenagers/adults who are constantly studying day and night and bombarded with an unlimited amount of reading/study material and homework. And this goes for all ages. The human mind is only capable of so much information that it can store all at once. And at the end of the day, most institutions and almost all schools are not accredited elsewhere in the world unless you put your child in AUC for example who mind you, are paying an excruciating amount of money onto each of their child per year its ridiculous.

Needless to say,

Children here and students in general study much more and much harder than anywhere else in the world that i've come across. Too bad all their hard work is not considered accreditation outside of Egypt. Its a shame.

Unfortunately  its the truth . I agree with every word you posted Loula . I felt that since a long time and its heart wrenching. Jobs are also the same thing almost and sometime even worse. I am happy I am back in Egypt with my Canadian education I guess I am considered lucky in that manner.

I know its of topic , but I also had a hard time from people, I was taken advantage of so many times that I thought I need to wake up and stop being so open with Egyptians, I an one ,just haven't lived in or raised in Egypt. Anyhow I am glad I am Egyptian aside from that and I hope things get better in all aspects.

Likes..we moved here from Wisconsin in u.s.a which is so cold so the best thing here is the weather ..except not too much rain but some will see that as a pro but I love the rain so that's a con
I love the food prices can take the whole family to a nice place to eat for 30 bucks
Lots of transportation
The service you receive at stores like pushing your cart to the car or loading your stuff in the car
Always someone willing to help for a little baksheesh!
Lots to do ..museums ,river rides, amusement parks, lots of places to eat and shop
Very cheap utilities
Everyone delivers! Fast food , grocery stores, phamacys
Cheap medicine and doctors even private offices are affordable
The smell of the air ..but that's probably just me lol
Every night is like Friday night! Lights music hussle and busslebussle
When you meet a good person they are usually very good there are a lot of rude people in the rich areas but we have met so many great friendly people just might take some time but they are out there
Cheap rent ..if you have an Egyptian find you a place never look yourself!
I'm sure there is more but that's what I got for now

Cons ..dirty! No one cleans out side
Power outages
Extremely slow internet
Noise pollution
Lack of respect when it comes to neighbors such as music , parties barking dogs construction...there is not set hours for any of this
I have teenage daughters and the boys here are rude with stares and comments
Hospitals not clean or not as clean as I'd. Like
The biggest problem here for me would be the rudeness of people like in stores if you are in line they will cut you off good thing I have an out spoken husband or I'd never get out of a store. There is no system in stores like the first one in line goes first lol its basically if I can squeeze my cart in before you I'm next . and their not shy about it. Then there is the respecting your personal space yep forget about that .
Now I have been here awhile and I have learned where to go and not to go and this isn't the same everywhere . we are in sheikh zayed now and it is worse here then anywhere else I've been . the smaller villages are great with great people very friendly and invited but a bit away from all the malls and stuff so you have to decide what is more important. As for us we are moving to Alex this summer . buying a villa there to be near the sea so I hope the quality of people are better ...fingers crossed! 
One last warning ..anything needed to be done in any government building will be terrible ..slow rude workers only working a few hours a day make sure you get there early if not don't bother going and early means like before 9 . no paper work is completed that day so always be ready for multiple trips and again to be in long lines where there is no system and people are pushing and yelling and cutting in line and all this in a tiny un air conditioned room but if your lucky you will get to stand there for an hour and watch the workers drink tea!   Good luck in Egypt!!!

It seems we have so much in common, so many times I have complained and other Egyptians say ...you just haven't been here long enough or you just had a bad experience it is different for other people ...lol it is exactly how you put it! Yes Egypt has its benefits that's why we still live here but as for the people ..rude! Our neighbors invited us 3 times to dinner 2 times they rescheduled the last time they weren't home when we arrived ..I would be so embarrassed if I forgot I was having a guest but them ..not even an apology. I don't like socializing anyway but my husband is Arab and into doing things the old Arab way I just don't think he gets it that those old ways seem to be gone . he wanted to live in the middle east for a few reasons but one being our daughter are teens and he wanted them to be safe from the western ideas of boyfriends but here the Boys are so much worse then american boys its terrible !!!
And the part where you described the workers lol that was actually funny ..we lived here 4 months before we got internet and I applied in the first week and not only did it take that long but when the worker came out he couldn't get it working said the problem was in our building and that makes it not his job..so thankfully husband works in IT and redid the wiring himself but that didn't stop the worker from wanting a tip !!! Got to love it! Anyway just wanted to say I appreciate your post and it made me feel not so alone!!

I've grown thick skin too. Although i've only been here for a year, I've learned a lot thus far. I guess people here  perceive it as being harsh when you distant yourself and create boundaries but you're only looking out for yourself so it is what it is.